Simultaneous in vivo imaging with PET and SPECT tracers using a Compton-PET hybrid camera

Mizuki Uenomachi; Miwako Takahashi; Kenji Shimazoe; Hiroyuki Takahashi; Kei Kamada; Tadashi Orita; Kenichiro Ogane; Atsushi B Tsuji

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-97302-7

Simultaneous in vivo imaging with PET and SPECT tracers using a Compton-PET hybrid camera

Sci Rep. 2021 Sep 9;11(1):17933. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-97302-7.

Authors

Mizuki Uenomachi^#¹, Miwako Takahashi^#², Kenji Shimazoe^#^{3

4}, Hiroyuki Takahashi⁵, Kei Kamada⁶, Tadashi Orita⁷, Kenichiro Ogane^{8

9}, Atsushi B Tsuji²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nuclear Engineering and Management, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
² National Institute of Radiological Sciences, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, 4-9-1, Inage, Chiba, Chiba, Japan.
³ Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan. shimazoe@bioeng.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
⁴ JST, PRESTO, Saitama, 332-0012, Japan. shimazoe@bioeng.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
⁵ Institute of Engineering Innovation, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 2-11-16, Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
⁶ Tohoku University, 2-1-1, Katahira, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.
⁷ Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (WPI), The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan.
⁸ Department of Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
⁹ Department of Nuclear Medicine, International University of Health and Welfare, 1-4-3, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Positron-emission tomography (PET) and single-photon-emission computed tomography (SPECT) are well-established nuclear-medicine imaging methods used in modern medical diagnoses. Combining PET with ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and SPECT with an ¹¹¹In-labelled ligand provides clinicians with information about the aggressiveness and specific types of tumors. However, it is difficult to integrate a SPECT system with a PET system because SPECT requires a collimator. Herein, we describe a novel method that provides simultaneous imaging with PET and SPECT nuclides by combining PET imaging and Compton imaging. The latter is an imaging method that utilizes Compton scattering to visualize gamma rays over a wide range of energies without requiring a collimator. Using Compton imaging with SPECT nuclides, instead of the conventional SPECT imaging method, enables PET imaging and Compton imaging to be performed with one system. In this research, we have demonstrated simultaneous in vivo imaging of a tumor-bearing mouse injected with ¹⁸F-FDG and an ¹¹¹In-antibody by using a prototype Compton-PET hybrid camera. We have succeeded in visualizing accumulations of ¹⁸F-FDG and ¹¹¹In-antibody by performing PET imaging and Compton imaging simultaneously. As simultaneous imaging utilizes the same coordinate axes, it is expected to improve the accuracy of diagnoses.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't